Bihar Government cancels 350 contracts worth ₹826 crore awarded by Mahagathbandhan regime

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) NDA government in Bihar has cancelled 350 contracts worth ₹826 crore in the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) awarded by the previous Mahagathbandhan dispensation, in which the JDU and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were in alliance, citing “irregularities in the process of awarding contracts”. The department has ordered a probe.

“During the previous regime, several contracts were awarded by the department and now an inquiry by the department revealed that due process was not followed in awarding 350 contracts worth ₹826 crore which were related with rural water supply and installation of hand pumps. Subsequently, an order was issued to cancel them,” Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Niraj Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.

Mr. Singh said the department has already submitted the preliminary inquiry report to the competent authority for a probe. “After getting the preliminary report, I called a meeting of senior officials of the department and ordered for cancellation of the projects”, he said.